To have 1,400 Rockford residents gather under one roof on a Thursday night to listen to a presentation on how to improve the city is a truly amazing sign of civic engagement.

That kind of interest from the general public is encouraging. People were willing to give up their free time and expressed a willingness to work for change. They know it won’t be easy and they heard how difficult it will be.

Those who showed up at the Transform Rockford summit at the Coronado Performing Arts Center heard the brutal facts about poverty, violent crime, joblessness and more. The statistics are scary.

But instead of gloom, there was an excitement among those who attended, unlike anything we’ve seen in recent years. Yes, some complained about the lack of specific action steps, but they need to realize that Thursday night was a start. Specific duties and challenges will be addressed as the process moves forward.

The downhill spiral has been going on for years and won’t be solved for years. We do expect short-term progress, like dropping a few notches when Forbes releases its 2014 miserable-cities list, but long-term results will be more challenging.

The support of Rockford residents is crucial. They must be as committed to changing the community as the leaders of Transform Rockford are. Thursday night showed that they are.

Garbage deal: Rockford aldermen overwhelmingly approved keeping Rock River Environmental Services as the city’s garbage hauler. Rock River has done a good job since it started collecting Rockford’s trash in 1999, and we saw no reason to go with a different company.

However, we were pleased with the bid process, which saved Rockford residents $11.4 million over the length of the contract. Rock River had to adjust its prices because of the competition from Advanced Disposal. Competition is a good thing. Advanced’s bid was slightly lower than Rock River’s, but Rock River’s record and its strong local presence made it the more attractive company.

Full house:The Citizen Watchdog Training presented Wednesday night by the Better Government Association was a success in terms of turnout. There was room for 60 participants, and the room was full. We hope everyone who came to the session learned how to better access information they have a right to know. If you couldn’t make it to the presentation, you still can get materials from the BGA by going to its website or calling 312-821-9042.

Page 2 of 2 - Chat schedule: Mike Holan, executive director of the Winnebago County Forest Preserve District, will be our guest for an online question-and-answer session at noon Wednesday. There will be no chat Nov. 27 because we’ll be getting ready for Thanksgiving. We’ll resume in December.

Food drive: Thank you to those who contributed to the Rockford Register Star food drive. Items were still coming in as this was written, but readers filled at least 10 30-gallon barrels with food that will be distributed to the needy through a network of local food pantries and feeding programs served by the Northern Illinois Food Bank.

The need is great: 1 in 4 children in Winnebago County is at risk of going hungry, as is 1 in 5 in Boone County.

We thank you on behalf of those children, their parents and others who would go hungry without your help.